The 18th Presidential election of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) will take place on 19 December. Following the announcement of the winner, Incumbent President, Lee Myung-bak, who took office in 2007 as a nominee of the Grand National Party, will step down in February 2013.
A semi-presidential democracy, the South Korean Head-of-State participates actively in the administration of the nation, along with the Prime Minister.
Recent polls indicate that Park Geun-Hye of the New Frontier Party and Moon Jae-in of the Liberal Democratic United Party are the leading contenders for the position. Geun-Hye’s supporters are of the opinion that her election to the President’s position might pave way for greater women’s rights in the conservative nation. However, there is a possibility that Gyeun-Hye’s authoritarian legacy may serve as an impediment to her presidential aspirations.
There was an interesting turn of events in November when Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent and influential candidate withdrew his application, and agreed to support Moon Jae-in.
The attention from the South Korean elections was diverted for a brief period when North Korea launched a rocket a few days ago. Both contenders condemned the act as a threat to international security, and agreed to pursue fresh negotiations with the country.
However, with Geun-Hye adopting an aggressive stand towards North Korea and Jae-in opting for a pro-engagement policy, the future trajectory of the bilateral relationship between the two nations can be defined only from the outcome of this election.
India shares strong bilateral ties with South Korea, particularly in the areas of defense and civil nuclear energy. Recently, in 2010, the two nations signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Under the aegis of CEPA, the two sides expect to achieve the bilateral trade target of $40 billion by 2015.